MUTEK Montréal, Festival 2016

After a whirlwind 5 days and nights, the 17th edition of MUTEK closed on Sunday, June 5 with a rousing finale that like the rest of the program, represented the festival’s signature and broad spectrum of live acts working at the intersection of music and technology, and in ingenious audiovisual practices.

19 free daytime activities as part of the DIGI_SECTION program at Phi Centre

2 day symposium and a 5 day exhibition with over 30 works on virtual reality

2 100 entries to the Boiler Room event at SAT

99 accredited journalists

Over 200 industry professionals, promoters and festival directors

Highlights of the 17th Edition

Thanks to the involvement of the SHAPE Platform, audiences were treated to striking shows from Aisha Devi, Lorenzo Senni and Peder Mannerfelt, among others. The MUTEK Mexico curatorial connection made Siete Catorce a stand out favourite on opening night, and due to a cancellation he was able to capitalize again on this reputation, Saturday. Veterans Atom™ and Burnt Friedman who performed solo and together as Flanger, handed in magisterial concerts (2 of them in full quadraphonic sound) that electrified festival goers. Jlin brought the house down on Friday night with her furious footwork and effervescent style. The North American debut of Frits Wentink live and as a DJ was a fan favourite. Tim Hecker packed the MAC with his latest show with visual artist MFO. Julia Kent mesmerized with her cinematic cello and pedal compositions. The Metropolis vibrated with exceptional sets from Lakker, Dasha Rush and Francesco Tristano. Local artists who made big impressions included Sarah Davachi, Simon Chioini, Project Pablo and Ohm Hourani. During the A/VISIONS programs, the world premiere of Dark Hearts of Space by Dasha Rush and Stanislav Glasov unfurled as a delicate three dimensional and affecting space opera, while Paul Jebanasam and Tarik Barri’s Continuum was a gorgeous and intense audiovisual painting of harmonics and sonic fury.

This edition was a truly exceptional illustration of variety, quality, inspiration and most importantly, community. The festival is always the sum of all of its parts, and this year expressed the kind of magic of immediacy and conviviality that recalled the first heady days of the event. The MUTEK audience is among the most receptive, open minded and enthusiastic, and many of the artists expressed their deep appreciation for that.

Thank you to our partners and collaborators and to our many and amazing volunteers.

Virtual reality

During MUTEK, Montréal also lived a Virtual Reality Week, thanks to our own VR Salon #2, the SAT’s IX Symposium, the Montréal VR Market, and effects MTL. Our city’s brand resonates worldwide in the VR/AR space and Monique Simard, president of SODEC, aptly summarized it during the VR Salon: ”we Canadians are pioneers in VR and AR, let’s maintain this momentum!”. Our 2nd edition’s programming mixed local artists with creators from Toronto, the US and Europe who presented their creative and edgy VR projects. It was a great occasion to take stock of the acceleration of this nascent medium since our 1st edition, just a few short months ago.
Stay tuned for VR Salon #3 this fall in Montréal!